Entry bubble Contacting President Barack Obama

By: Jake | January 26, 2009 | Category: Home and Family

President Barack ObamaPresident Obama will be allowed to keep his BlackBerry and this will make him the first acting president to use email. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean you and I can send him personal emails.

For his safety, the President's email address is not public. Email will only be exchanged between President Obama and his closest advisers and friends. Security programs will block any email from unauthorized addresses.

At the moment the best way to get a message to the president is to contact him at the White House contact page. This is where the White House is directing you to "send questions, comments, concerns or well-wishes to the President or his staff." You can also call the White House Comments Line at 1-202-456-1111 (TTY: 1-202-456-6213) and leave a message.

If you would like to request a greeting from the president for a marriage, anniversary, birthday or birth or extend an invitation to him for an event you will need to submit it to the White House contact page. In the future the President's office will most likely offer further instructions for these requests. You can buy the President and Vice President's official photos online from the Government Printing Office.

 During his presidential transition, President Obama created the Citizen's Briefing Book, which was an online forum for people to suggest policy ideas. Would you like to see more things like this during the Obama Administration? Please tell me in the comments what else would you like to see from whitehouse.gov.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [27] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: jake   obama_email_address   president_obama   presidential_salutations  

 

Entry bubble I AM . . .

By: Editor | January 22, 2009 | Category: Fun

This essay marks the final text installment in our inauguration coverage. For a compilation of photos and videos, check out our Flickr photostream and YouTube account. Thank you for your comments and participation. We hope you enjoyed following our coverage as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you.


I am a proud witness of history. My husband and I attended the inauguration of our 44th president on Tuesday. It was an experience I will long remember for its cold weather, its beautiful music, its simplicity, and its monumental import.

Metro station platform at 6:30 a.m.I am lucky. We arose early Tuesday morning and caught the Metro before the crowds got too bad. We had a seat all the way in to town. We had tickets for the silver section, and although we stood in a line at least five blocks long, we only had to wait about 30 minutes before they opened the security gate. We passed through in mere minutes and eventually worked our way up to the Reflecting Pool just west of the Capitol. We stood right next to a woman from Las Vegas who’d waited since 4:30 a.m. to get in.

I am delighted that America takes its national celebrations as opportunities to revel in the arts. I will long remember the music I heard. A children’s choir singing of hope for the future, peace in our time, America the beautiful. A military band playing an 18th century Army marching song arranged by a 20th century American composer, Sousa’s marches, an achingly beautiful arrangement of “Amazing Grace”—iconic, American pieces all. The audience listening with rapt attention to the haunting strains of John Williams’ piece, “Air and Simple Gifts,” especially composed for the occasion.

crowd at the inaugurationI am in awe. On Tuesday, a simple ceremony shifted the leadership of our nation from one man to another in just 35 words. And as the oath of office was taken, a new era began. I wish I had been alive when Dr. King and the Freedom Riders and the Civil Rights workers fought for the freedoms of everyone so I could fully realize what it means for America and the world that we have an African-American president. I wish I personally knew the sense of triumph that swelled to cheers of “O-ba-ma” from so many African-Americans in the crowd with me on Tuesday.

I am hopeful. President Obama’s inaugural address was filled with soaring words of a new vision for America mixed with a sense of history’s weight and the challenge of working to make that new vision a reality. We humans are reluctant and slow to change, even if we know the change is good for us. I hope that the buoyant spirits which brought millions to brave a cold January morning, to wait in long lines with good will, to travel far distances in poor economic times, will convert into the energy and determination to do the hard work of making America a better place than it was on January 20th when history was made.

dawn over the Capitol on Jan. 21 

| Post a Comment | View Comments [3] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: editor   inauguration   president_obama  

 

Entry bubble It Was All About the Troops

By: Jake | January 21, 2009 | Category: Home and Family

Bev Godwin, Director of USA.gov and Web Best Practices at the U.S. General Services Administration, attended the Commander-in-Chief Inaugural Ball last night. Here are her thoughts and pictures:

Yeah, sure, it was awesome to be in the same room with our country’s new President. And it was cool to see comedian George Lopez, singer Jon Bon Jovi, 2007 American Idol winner Jordin Sparks, and 70’s show band Right On perform. But the Commander-in-Chief Inaugural Ball was all about the courageous military troops who serve our country. VIP guests included 300 wounded warriors (Purple Heart recipients), families of fallen heroes, and spouses of deployed military. This ball was free of charge to the invited guests.

Our active duty and reserve military were decked out with more varieties of military dress uniforms than I have ever seen. And they all had digital cameras and video phones to record the event. A sight to behold in the 116 x 316 foot Great Hall of the National Building Museum.

Soldiers with Cameras

I was fortunate to meet a few of our heroes and hear their stories. Captain Richard Murphy, a U.S. Army lawyer stationed at Ft. Hood, Texas served in Iraq in 2003-2004. Tech Sergeants Racquel James and Tamara George of the U.S. Air Force are now stationed locally. Sergeant Mauricio Maranho served in Iraq from 2004-2005 and is now the General’s driver at the Navy Annex in Washington, DC. Sergeant Mansell Adzobu, U.S. Army, who now works in Personnel Security at the Army National Guard Readiness Center, told me his story of coming to the U.S. from his native Ghana to study in Georgia. Sergeant Adzobu enlisted in 2005 to serve the new country he began to love, and plans to make the U.S. Army his career.

Sergeant Mansell Adzobu

The highlight of the evening occurred with the help of real-time satellite. Troops stationed in Iraq talked with Vice President Biden and the packed crowd, and later troops stationed in Afghanistan talked with the President as the very enthusiastic ball guests cheered them on. Not a few tears were shed as we watched and listened to these brave men in women in uniform on the large screens throughout the ballroom.

Troops Via Satellite from Afghanistan

After the first couple danced with each other, the crowd went wild when the President then danced with Sergeant Margaret H. Herrera, U.S. Army, while the First Lady danced with Sergeant Elidio Guillen, U.S. Marine Corps.

President and First Lady dancing with Soldiers

I feel honored to be chosen to cover the Commander-in-Chief inaugural ball and to share it with all of you through social media. I was humbled to be among these brave men and women who are, or have, sacrificed so much to protect our freedoms. An enormous thank you to all of you from USA.gov!

| Post a Comment | View Comments [0] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: commander_in_chief_inaugural_ball   michele_obama   president_obama  

 

Entry bubble The Inaugural Parade

By: Jake | January 20, 2009 | Category: General

Buchanan Inaugural Parade My friend who lives in Brooklyn just commented that if you live or have lived in DC (like he did), it's pretty surreal to watch the Inaugural Parade. Like many DC residents, he's walked down Pennsylvania Avenue many times. I must admit I seem to know where President Obama's motorcade is passing before the TV announcers do. From my angle it looked like the first time President Obama got out of the presidential limousine was at the National Archives and Records Administration Building and got back in near the Old Post Office building. The second time he got out was by the Department of Treasury building.

As he approached the White House for the first time, the new Whitehouse.gov, the official website of President Obama, was already live. There's already a blog post from Macon Phillips, the White House's Director of New Media telling you what to expect there.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [2] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: inaugural_parade   jake   parade   president_obama